The Romney Scorecard: RINO
September 24, 2009
Romney is No Conservative
I am confused about people making favorable comments regarding Mitt Romney being the Republican Party leader without understanding who this cat really is? Maybe it is just hard to understand who he is… Mitt’s a flipper. A flopper. Maybe even a full-fledged flip-flopper (unless he reverses an already reversed belief). Unprincipled? Consistently inconsistent? Yes. Convictions? Questionable. A chameleon, yes. But, I hate having to guess.
“He can argue any side of a question. And sometimes you think he’s really believing his argument, but he’s not.” – Ann Romney, the wife of Mitt Romney
You see. Mitt Romney has a truth problem.
As you compare what Romney stood for in Massachusetts with what he says now, it seems fair to ask, was Mitt Romney telling us the truth about himself then, or is he telling it now? Which leads many to ask the question what he is willing to do to get elected. Would he fabricate the truth? What can be seen cannot be unseen.
INTRODUCTION
In the 1994 campaign, Romney proudly labeled himself a moderate. “I’m not a partisan politician,” he said in an interview with The Post that fall. “My hope is that, after this election, it will be the moderates of both parties who will control the Senate, not the Jesse Helms’.
Mitt Romney opposed the two most successful conservative policy efforts of the last 30 years… the Reagan policies of the 1980`s and the Contract With America of the 1990`s. Romney and like-minded big government Republicans sabotage the future of not just the GOP and conservatism, but the US. In the long term, they pose as much danger to the Republic as Democrats.
In his 1994 debate with Kennedy, Romney refused to endorse the “Contract With America,” which House Republicans had proudly presented as their campaign manifesto, and he balked when Kennedy tried to link him to the Reagan administration. “I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush,” Romney retorted.
“He does not appear to be credible in his deathbed conversions — pro-life, anti-homosexual agenda and so on,” says Paul Weyrich, a founder of the Heritage Foundation and the Moral Majority, the intellectual and religious bulwarks of what was once known as the New Right. “People simply do not believe him.”
Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. Critics say his four years in office produced very little. “There’s two ways to look at this guy. One is that the glass is half empty. The other is that the glass is totally empty,” says Stephen Crosby, a Republican who served in the Swift administration and is now dean of the graduate school of policy studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Mitt Romney represents everything that is wrong with our party and everything that has left us dying in a ditch after this last election. Romney is a pretend conservative. A RINO. Pretend conservatives are what got us to where we are and are what will completely destroy us if allowed. His support of the socialist bailout bill should be the killer for all thinking conservatives. We need to find good candidates by their current deeds and their record. Romney will be an exact repeat of John McCain.
ALL politicians play to their extremist base to get the nomination. WINNING politicians then play to the moderates in the general election. That is simple campaign 101 stuff. Walk to the extreme during the primary to win over the base and then run to the middle as party nominee. But who is Romney’s extremist base? It’s not conservatives. And, isn’t that exactly the type of RINO politician that Tea Party members and conservatives rally against? We need candidates whose votes or governing records match their mouths.
But, where is there anything in Mitt Romney’s record that indicates that he is anything but a moderate or tax and spender, once again, masquerading as a conservative. Didn’t we learn from 2008? When will Republicans wake up and support someone who truly believes and acts conservative? This man was Governor from Massachusetts. Those Massachusetts liberals: Frank, Dukakis, Kennedy, Kerry, and Mitt Romney. I suppose I could go on. Whoever heard of nominating a Republican leader from the state of MA? Romney can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. His governing record spells doom.
Mitt Romney is no Reagan conservative… He is another two-faced politician saying whatever is necessary to get elected. It is obvious from media reports and heard from his own mouth he’s no constitutionalists and is a later day convert to the Pro-life cause. Aren’t we smart enough to see that we are being used by this Republican Bill Clinton?
The former CEO and Governor of Massachusetts tried to emerge as the Barack Obama of the GOP in the 2008 primary. And the analogy is apt. He has the resonant voice, the good looks, forceful speaker, the statesman-like bearing and, going Obama two better, great hair and unobtrusive ears. But Romney shares another commonality with Obama: He’s a liberal in his party-thinking masquerading as something more palatable.
THE CASE AGAINST ROMNEY
For starters, as Governor, Romney pledged to build the Massachusetts Republican Party, but in fact he did nothing. During his tenure there were two elections for the entire Legislature (2004 and 2006). In each election the Republicans lost seats. After Romney was through, Republicans held the fewest seats in the Legislature since the Civil War. According to the Boston Globe (11/2/2006), during the four years of Romney’s tenure, the number of registered Republicans in Massachusetts fell by 31,000. During that same period, the Massachusetts Democratic Party gained 30,000.
Despite recent statements across the country by Mitt Romney claiming he’s pro-life, pro-family and a committed conservative, if you investigate his actual statements, actions, and public positions over the years one will learn that he has spent his entire career speaking and governing as a moderate – and that his new found conversion to conservatism very likely coincides with his candidacy for the presidency.
Another politico that you can compare Mitt’s new found conversions to is Al Gore. Like Gore, Romney has flip-flopped on abortion, only in the other direction. Romney helped raise money for Planned Parenthood and supported gay rights until it was time to run for president. And, while he now claims to be pro-life, he supported legalization of the “morning-after” abortion pill, RU-486. Moreover, as recently as his 2002 run for governor his platform stated:
“The choice to have an abortion is a deeply personal one. Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not the government’s.”
Of course, Romney says that his views have “evolved.” But one can strongly suspect his adaptation relates more to the evolution of political ambitions than that of conscience. Call me cynical, but unless you’ve been cloistered in an ancient monastery for the duration, I’m very suspicious of deep personal growth occurring between ages 55 and 65. Romney is 64.
And Romney and his high-profile stand against anti-marriage has garnered him much publicity. But here, too, Romney has been about as consistent as March weather in Chicago, with a track record that belies his new-found traditionalism. Romney opposed the Boy Scouts’ policy prohibiting homosexuals from serving as scoutmasters and prevented the organization from participating publicly in the 2002 Olympics.
Then the Boston Globe wrote in 2005, “Governor Mitt Romney, who touts his conservative credentials to out-of-state Republicans, has passed over GOP lawyers for three-quarters (75%) of the 36 judicial vacancies he has faced, instead tapping registered Democrats or independents – including two gay lawyers who have supported expanded same-sex rights.” Judicial appointments are one of the most lasting effects of any U.S. President’s years in office, so it’s vitally important to examine this aspect of Romney’s record.
Mitt Romney's appointments favored Democrats and Independents
The Boston Globe in 2005 said the following: ‘Of the 36 people Romney named to be judges or clerk magistrates, 23 are either registered Democrats or unenrolled voters who have made multiple contributions to Democratic politicians or who voted in Democratic primaries, state and local records show.’ Mr. Romney also continued [former Governor] Weld’s tradition of appointing openly gay people to key positions in his administration and promoting “gay rights” stating: “We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern.” Click here to learn why InsideCatholic.com does not trust Romney.
Significantly, two of Romney’s appointments also now found a home in the Obama White House. Gina McCarthy, the chief EPA clean air regulator, leads the fight to make coal fired electric generating plants extinct. And, John Holdren, Obama’s Director of Science and Technology Policy is leading the effort to regulate “greenhouse gases”. Dr. Holdren has some exotic views. In 2003, Romney also chose a hard core environmental activist to be Secretary of Commonwealth Development. Click here to learn more about Romney’s Troubling Appointments.
Equally damning, though, is that in a very ominous way Mitt can be compared to yet another infamous poseur, Hillary Clinton. In 2006, Romney signed a bill into law that creates a universal health system intrusive enough to be the envy of socialists everywhere. The plan mandated that every MA resident must obtain health insurance by July 1, 2007, or face a fine. Sound familiar? Of course, this scheme includes the creation of a new bureaucracy, one that will, using Big Brother’s infinite wisdom, determine how much you can afford to pay.
Yes, it’s called RomneyCare. RomneyCare is Obamacare done at the state level. And yet, when Governor Mitt Romney instituted a universal healthcare plan for Massachusetts in 2006 he proclaimed it a conservative idea! Click here and here and here and here and here and here to learn more about the disastrous RomneyCare. Note: A 10-member Massachusetts state healthcare advisory board (sound familiar) unanimously recommended in July, 2009 that the state begin rationing healthcare to keep the state’s marquee universal health care program afloat financially.
• Everyone must buy health insurance or face tax penalties.
• Hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on free hospital care were converted into subsidies to help the needy buy insurance.
• A health insurance “exchange” was established to help connect the uninsured with private health plans at more affordable rates.
• Health plans can offer consumers higher deductibles and more restrictive physician and hospital networks in order to lower costs.
• Businesses with 11 or more workers that do not offer insurance must pay a $295 per employee fee.
Source: Massachusetts Health Connector Authority
To this day, Romney defends his own RomneyCare policy. At Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-SC) presidential forum on Sept 5, 2011, Mitt stated RomneyCare is “One Of My Best Assets.”It’s going to be difficult to criticize Obamacare when you’re defending Romneycare. To justify his socialist brainchild, Romney uses the argument that it is no different from requiring people to carry car insurance.
Then on October 11, 2011, came this damning report from NBC News: “Newly obtained White House records provide fresh details on how senior Obama administration officials used Mitt Romney’s landmark health-care law in Massachusetts as a model for the new federal law, including recruiting some of Romney’s own health care advisers and experts to help craft the Act now derided by Republicans as “Obamacare.”” Three Romney Advisers silently met at the White House a dozen times.
On fiscal policy, remember this when Romney touts his credentials as a fiscal conservative. While he may boast of his steadfast refusal to raise taxes, it rings hollow when he turned around and mandates citizen expenditures and levies fines. Moderates and liberals are adept at revenue-raising sleight-of-hand; when another tax increase would raise voter ire, they simply deem it a toll, fine, fee or a “surcharge.” I prefer honest theft myself.
While Romney ran in 2008 on a platform that claimed he hadn’t raised taxes as governor of Massachusetts, the claim was based upon a simple deception: he called his tax increases “fees.” During the presidential campaign, NBC’s “Meet the Press” host, the late Tim Russert, exploded Romney’s claim he hadn’t proposed tax increases as Massachusetts governor. Click here to read that transcript.
Barbara Anderson of Massachusetts’ Citizens for Limited Taxation revealed that many of Romney’s “fees” had nothing to do with services and everything to do with the purpose of taxes: raising revenue. Romney increased fees upon gun owners and for people who needed duplicate licenses. Neither of these are “services” that the government provides; they are simply licenses needed to comply with government-established mandates.
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney raised state government fees and taxes by three quarters of a billion dollars a year. During his four year tenure, Romney nickeled and dimed Massachusetts families and individuals with over a hundred fee increases. In fact, on all key labor market measures, Massachusetts not only lagged behind the nation as a whole, but often ranked at or near the bottom.
The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, published a fiscal-policy report card for 2006 that gave Romney a C grade, ranking him behind 11 other governors, including former Democratic White House hopeful Bill Richardson, then governor of New Mexico, but ahead of Mike Huckabee, Governor of Arkansas, who received a D grade. Between fall 2003 and autumn 2006, U.S. job growth averaged 5.4% nearly three times Massachusetts’ anemic 1.9% pace.
Cato found that Romney increased annual state fees by $500 million as governor and proposed two corporate tax increases totaling close to $400 million a year. The local tax burden increased from 10% to 10.6% of per capita income during Romney’s governorship, according to analysis by the Tax Foundation. Romney also refused to endorse the Bush tax cuts.
Under Romney, Massachusetts manufacturing jobs declined by more than 14% – double the national rate (Boston Globe, 7/28/07) and the third worst record in the country. Nationally, manufacturing dropped only 7%. On his watch, overall spending during Romney’s tenure increased 20.7%…hardly indicative of “fiscal conservatism.” Government employment in Massachusetts also grew 7.2% during Romney’s tenure. Massachusetts was 47th among all 50 states in job creation from 2003 to 2007.
To note, President Bush was often excoriated for betraying his conservative base, a perception that contributed to his poor poll numbers. What is forgotten, however, is that while campaigning for the presidency in 2000, Bush accused the Republican Congress of trying “to balance the budget on the backs of the poor,” a line that could have been culled from Democrat talking points.
Bush never cast himself as anything but exactly what he was – strictly a pro-life social conservative. Nothing more. We just weren’t listening. Are we listening now? To note: Bush is to be admired for his war against terrorism and no one could ever question his love of country.
While visiting Manchester, NH on June 3rd, 2011, Romney also stated that global warming is real and influenced by man. Video here. Mitt, of course, was just being consistent, as he was with his ethanol support statement earlier in the same week. On May 27th, while visiting Iowa, Romney stated, per the Wall Street Journal: “I support the subsidy of ethanol, I believe ethanol is an important part of our energy solution for this country.” Romney supported ethanol subsidies during his unsuccessful 2008 presidential run too. If eliminating wasteful subsidies is a litmus test for any candidate. Romney fails.
Beyond RomneyCare and Mitt’s love for government mandates, you remember TARP, right? The $700 billion mortgage bailout turned bank bailout, auto bailout, turned everybody-bailout, turned government union slush fund. Yeah, that TARP. Well, Romney supported TARP, with gusto!
In 2005, Human Events listed the Top 10 RINO’s in the Republican Party. Romney was listed as No. 8. Romney is a “Country-club Rockefeller Republican” whose supporters will attempt to use the bigot card to silence critics of Romney. If you can morally ignore his liberal record in Massachusetts that left the state saddled with a bankrupting state run health care system, taxpayer funded abortions, gay marriage, gun control, sanctuary cities, intrusion and government coercion into private matters, etc, etc, etc, than Romney’s ok. But you are not a conservative.
And, during his tenure, at least four Massachusetts cities enacted or renewed legislation declaring themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants. As far as anyone was able to determine in research, Romney made no attempts to penalize, censure, or cut funding to them. And, as you will see from his own lips, in one of the videos below, Mr. Mitt believed that illegal aliens here in the U.S. should be able to receive residency or citizenship, aka, Amnesty.
On gun control, Romney favored support of the federal assault weapons ban. On Affirmative Action, Romney believed there should be disclosure on the number of women and minorities in top positions of companies and government. As a supporter of minimum wage, Romney proposed indexing the Massachusetts minimum wage with inflation, telling the Boston Globe “I do not believe that indexing the minimum wage will cost us jobs. I believe it will help us retain jobs.” – Boston Globe, 7/25/2002.
Romney and his Department of Education also opposed federal legislation that would stop public schools from actively promoting homosexuality. And in 2004, Romney issued an official state proclamation celebrating “Gay Youth Pride Day” even though there was no legal reason requiring him to do this. Here is the Proclamation from the Governor’s office.
According to an August 31, 2006, Associated Press report, Romney supported ‘No Child Left Behind’. Then there’s his 2002 gubernatorial bid in which Romney came out opposed to school vouchers after aggressively supporting them in his 1994 campaign against Teddy Kennedy. And, while he said he supported charter schools, he never met with charter schools leaders. Then in September of 2011, Romney came out in favor of Barack Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ and Arne Duncan’s education reforms.
Romney has a major identity problem. Mr. Mitt has tried to go from claiming to be a super-moderate New England Republican to being a super-conservative national primary-type Republican. But, Mitt couldn’t pull it out against McCain. Did we not learn from electing John McCain in 2008? Many supported Mitt in 2008 simply to stop McCain, not because they thought he was the next Reagan.
“Romney has some issues with authenticity,” says Whit Ayres, a GOP pollster. “It’s very difficult to make a seamless transition of being a governor of a liberal state to being the nominee of a very conservative party.” Yes. Mitt Romney has an identity problem. And, it starts with flip flops:
Romney’s big weakness is his character. No one lies better while looking at you straight in the eye than Romney. Well, maybe Bill Clinton or Obama. THIS is a prime example of why Romney will never be president. He has no core beliefs and people do not trust him. We are certainly NOT going to select another president in 2012 we can’t trust.
The late Senator Kennedy was right when he said that ‘Romney is multiple choice’…on many issues. Romney will be “untruthful” as often as required to get the desired outcome. He is not true to any convictions, changes his platform with the wind, and he is not someone conservatives can trust! Click here to see Romney deny and argue that lobbyist do not work for his campaign.
If you look at his political history, Romney would search for a way to look like he was governing as a conservative, but in every case, the liberals would ultimately be the victors. Just another opportunist who has no driving principles other than self interests. When the facts don’t fit the data, Romney just changes the facts. There is nothing conservative about him. Obama is in the Oval because the Republicans sold its soul to becoming more liberal and Progressive. And, as you will see in this video below, Romney has no soul:
Romney is also not a team player. Romney is poison who, it is alleged, sent silent attack teams against Sarah Palin. The evidence keeps piling up that Romney plays by a very different and underhanded set of rules. Mitt’s folks can never resist the temptation to engage in character assassination whenever they are confronted by an uncomfortable reality they can’t explain away. It’s vintage Romney.
Romney’s little “motor” is always backstabbing supporters, and conservatives. Conservatives4Palin.com has identified Mark Mckinnon, Tucker Eskew, Nicole Wallace, John Feehery, Carl Forti, Kevin Madden and Michelle Laxalt as Romney supporters who worked for McCain’s campaign. Click here and here and here to learn more about Team Romney members spreading snipes and rumors about Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson. This is a “Tee-It-Up” or “Divide & Conquer” mentality. This is a gross violation of Reagan’s 11th Commandment.
And then there is this. Everyone wants to believe the Massachusetts governor’s Mormonism won’t be a problem, but, think again. If the Gallup poll and other polls are are to be believed, Mormons, who are good citizens, rank among America’s most disliked religious denominations. While Americans have indeed become more religiously tolerant, a significant number of voters – especially evangelical Protestants – say they would be less likely to vote for Romney. If you like journalist David Frum, you should like Mitt Romney. Click here and here.
CLOSING
Romney is bad news for conservatism — all you have to do is to read his words and listen to his speeches in their entirety, not just to the grand-sounding platitudes that are music to conservatives’ ears. Platitudes are like that — the devil is in the details, and Romney’s “details” always entail more, bigger government, mandates, and meddling, the opposite of what his platitudes promise. If you can accept John McCain again then you should accept Mitt Romney. But, how can Romney be the best bet to beat Obama when he couldn’t even beat the guy who lost to Obama the last time?
There’s just one requisite for being a conservative political leader, and that’s that you actually are one. Fabricating about being one doesn’t make you one. Mitt Romney should certainly be welcome in the GOP, but he should never be in a position of power or leadership within the party. Clearly, too many GOP insiders within the ‘DC Establishment’ are somehow smitten with Romney. There seems to be a disconnect in the party (between Party leaders and grassroots) that may only be addressed at the polls.
Romney is that type of politician that believes government does belong in every aspect of our lives, how much is the only question. Mitt honestly believes he accomplished something with Mass’ Healthcare. But, as Massachusetts has shown us, mandating insurance, restricting individual choice, expanding subsidies, and increasing government control has produced a system riddled with waste, diminished quality of care and higher cost to taxpayers.
While Romney changes his position on every issue he once supported to once again appeal to the right wing, it raises the real question of why he thinks they will believe his new positions this time, when they didn’t buy his makeover last time. Once you learn about Romney’s record, you learn also that his selective memory is disingenuous at best. On his watch, Massachusetts saw unemployment rise, jobs leave, higher taxes and fees, and increased cost of living. Romney claims otherwise.
Romney still has fans on the right, although I could not tell you why. Romney is the enemy within. You never know where he honestly stands on any issue. What he promises today, he flip flops on tomorrow. It all depends on which way the political winds are blowing. He also has friends on the left. Don’t let the media play you like a fiddle. They like Mitt. They want Mitt to be the GOP candidate. Mitt would make an excellent Presidential candidate… for the Democrats.
Lets recap: What Romney supported as Governor of Massachusetts:
1. Pro-abortion with full taxpayer funding.
2. Pro-state mandated healthcare.
3. Pro-government mandates in taxes and fees.
4. Pro-gay marriage; full-state sponsorship (1rst Governor).
5. Pro-transgendered education in public schools.
6. Pro-global warming caused by humans hysteria.
7. Pro-amnesty for illegal immigrants.
8. Anti-second Amendment.
9. Support of Ethanol Subsidies..
10. 75% of his Appointments were of Liberal Judges.
11. 47th state out of 50 in job creation.
12. Increased State spending 20.7% during his tenure.
13. Government employment grew 7.2% during his tenure.
14. Pro-Affirmative Action.
15. Romney Lies.
The list goes on… such as supporting “Race to the Top” and Obama’s Education Secretary, Arne Duncan’s reforms, as well as, the TARP bailouts saying: “the bailouts were the right thing to do”. To his credit, Romney has called for repeal of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was enacted in 2010.
American conservatives have been exceptional in two ways: in the ideas that they espouse and the movement they have created. Romney’s brain trust is betting that conservatives will resign themselves to a Romney candidacy in order to stop Obama. The Tea Party’s goal may be to beat Obama and flip the Senate, but a Romney candidacy would discourage conservative and grassroots activism in the 2012 election.
Romney is undeniably a liberal Republican, not a conservative. With no principles, he will say anything, do anything, to get elected and gain personal power. Because he is not a conservative, the Buckley rule can not apply to Romney. The Buckley Rule is, ostensibly, that you vote for the most electable conservative option against the Democratic opponent. No sense running Mona Lisa in a beauty contest. Romney has a resonant voice, the good looks, forceful speaker, and he fabricates the truth – masquerading as something more palatable. Did we not see this in 2008?
In the October 11, 2011 debate at Dartmouth, Romney said: ‘I can work with ‘good’ Democrats.’ Oh boy. Here we go again. McCain Part Deux. Any true conservative that is foolish enough to vote for Romney will live to regret it. The next President will likely name two Supreme Court Justices and numerous appointments to Federal benches. Romney’s record on appointments in MA is deplorable.
On almost every single important issue facing America today, Mitt Romney has fought against conservatism. This Guy has been on a mission for the Oval office long before he lost to Ted Kennedy 15 years ago. It began with his father’s failed bid in Michigan. Beware of the silver spoon elitists. Talk is cheap, but action is real. But, Mitt doesn’t recall a lot of things.
Perhaps it would have been easier to have posted what positions Romney hasn’t changed. If the Republican establishment support another big government progressive Republican or RINO, and primary voters put up another big government candidate, then the Republican Establishment and media will have won. A Romney Administration would be an unmitigated disaster.
You don’t reward a dog with a bone when he just peed on the floor. RomneyCare is ObamaCare, at the state level. It’s going to be very difficult to criticize Obamacare when you’re defending Romneycare. I rest my case, your honor.
“It is now my pleasure to introduce my collaborator and friend, Senator Edward Kennedy.” – Mitt Romney
